Altior shows he’s up with the very best in challenging win
● Henderson’s latest star equals record over jumps
On soft ground he didn’t like, crowded either side by tidy horses sensing a chance to take a great champion down after a wobble at the last, Altior found the necessary gears to drop Politologue and Sceau Royal up the most demanding incline in racing and equal Big Buck’s’ world record 18 successive victories over jumps.
Right up there with Cheltenham’s regal two-mile chasers Master Minded and Sprinter Sacre, said winning jockey Nico De Boinville.
The best horse he has seen since Gold Cup pin-up Kauto Star a decade ago said his highness AP Mccoy.
Yes, really. You might say Altior made an impression in leaving his mark on history in the signature race of the day.
They might have to revise those judgments skyward a year hence should Altior return for a shot at Badsworth Boy’s achievement of 34 years ago.
Badsworth Boy is the only horse to rack up three in a row in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. The numbers are impressive, but it is the imprint on the soul made by special horses in the biggest races that really count.
Sprinter was a beast, recovering from a heart murmur to reclaim the Champion Chase title three years after first setting Cheltenham ablaze. Kauto Star remains the only Gold Cupper to get off the canvas and regain his crown over three seasons of breathless duelling with Denman. And now we have another imperious animal in our midst.
“He’s an absolute warrior. This ground wasn’t ideal for him. What an absolute monster. Aren’t we lucky to be in this age with him? Won’t denigrate great champions but I would say he’s right up there with Master Minded and Sprinter Sacre,” was the soaring testimony of De Boinville in the immediacy of victory.
Trainer Nicky Henderson, out of loyalty and respect to Sprinter, would not put one above the other, remarking only how incredible it was that one should have come into his Seven Barrows yard in the manner of London buses, right after the other.
“When you see the crowd like that around the winner’s enclosure it’s like going back to the Sprinter Sacre days, and it was great that he was here this morning. How lucky we are to retire one and find another. You can’t believe it’s possible. He [Altior] is some star.”
This was Henderson’s sixth Champion Chase win, equalling the record of Tom Draper, best known for his work with Arkle, and 63rd festival winner, forming a formidable vanguard with Willie Mullins.
With so much riding on the outcome, the dominant emotion was relief. “It’s nice when it’s over,” Henderson said. “It’s like hitting your head against a brick wall. The only nice bit is when it stops.”
Henderson wondered if it were all beginning to unravel as Politologue and Sceau Royal closed in a pincer movement at the last. “I thought ‘hells bells we’ve got trouble here’. It’s amazing how he picked up. He knew what he had to do.”
The great ones always do.
“This ground wasn’t ideal for him. What an absolute monster. Aren’t we lucky to be in this age with him”
NICO DE BOINVILLE